The mother of a South Korean victim in the Itaewon murder case nearly two decades ago took the witness stand and asked the court to heavily punish her son’s murderer at the court hearing on Thursday.
“Judges and prosecutors, please slap our son’s murderer with the heaviest punishment for our son who unfairly died,” Lee Bok-soo, 73, who lost her son in 1997, said in the courtroom at Seoul Central District Court.
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| Victim’s mother, Lee Bok-soo (Yonhap) |
The remark came after the court opened a fresh investigation into the murder case in which college student Cho Choong-pil was stabbed to death in 1997 at Burger King restaurant in Itaewon, a multicultural district frequented by expats in Seoul.
Arthur John Patterson, a 35-year-old U.S. citizen, was extradited to Korea on Sept. 23 to face a new trial on charges of murdering Cho, who was found dead on the restroom floor with several wounds to his neck and chest. He died on the way to a hospital.
At the crime scene, there were only two other people apart from the victim — Cho, Patterson and a Korean-American Edward Lee.
Lee was initially indicted on a murder charge in 1997 and sentenced to 20-year-jail term, but later was cleared of the charge for lack of evidence.
Prosecutors indicted Patterson on lesser charges, including elimination of evidence and possession of a dangerous weapon. He received an 18-month prison term, but was freed in an annual amnesty in 1998.
“I don’t know what to say in front of the guy who killed my son as I am too furious,” Cho’s mother said with her voice trembling with rage.
“They (Patterson and Lee) are just sitting there shifting blame and denying their crime, which made me think that it is exactly the same as the trial 18 years ago,” she said. “If they have conscience, they should come forward and apologize. They are only human beings in disguise.”
“I think about what it could be if Joong-pil is still alive. I could have a meal with my son, look at his face and hold him, but I can’t,” she said, asking the judge to reveal who the real murderer was to ease her son’s pain.
In the hearing, the prosecution pointed out that Patterson could face a jail term of up to 20 years as he is now an adult. When the murder took place, he was 18 years old.
But Patterson’s lawyer refuted the claims, saying the prosecution misinterpreted Patterson’s testimonies and wrongly assessed the crime situation.
Lee appeared at the court as a witness later in the day.
As the prosecution began showing pictures of Cho’s blood from the crime scene, Cho’s mother expressed her discomfort and left the courtroom in the middle of the hearing.
By Ock Hyun-ju (laeticia.ock@heraldcorp.com)
